What do I need to get into airliners?

[tsa737 6]

Hi, if you want to have airline callsigns in your flightsim, download editvoicepack at http://www.editvoicepack.com/%C2'>

 

After you load editvoicepack, run the program and choose your basic options. Save and hit install.

 

When you turn on FSX, go to free flight, choose the NGX for example, click on "aircraft details"on aircraft choice page, and scroll down for the callsign you like, then click okay.

 

When you fly, the tower will then contact you as (for example): "Delta 211 contact Ground"

[BeechPapa 32]

This is actually one thing that keeps my NGX, 777 and Q400 away in the hangar; just not enough time in one day to spend time going through the manuals. However, I did manage to go through the complete startup of the JS4100 and now can do it with my eyes closed 6 months later, and it's a blast to fly on short hops around the Pacific Northwest.

 

One thing I can say for sure that helped me get into the "procedural" birds was a good checklist that made starting the engines and getting to the threshold as quick and painless as possible.

When I first started looking at NGX YouTube videos asking myself "do I really wanna open this can of worms?" I remember seeing videos of people who took an hour to prepare for flight and thinking "these people are deranged"... Now I am one of those people!  :lol: More than half of my sim time still lies with GA/bush planes, but I learned to enjoy the ocd elements of airline simming.

 

The JS4100 is an incredible plane and if you can handle the old-school fully-manual preflight methods used on it you should be able to handle the procedures on almost any other plane just fine. NGX is complex, but atleast it doesn't like to catch fire so easily.     

[pmanhart 176]

 

 

The JS4100 is an incredible plane and if you can handle the old-school fully-manual preflight methods used on it you should be able to handle the procedures on almost any other plane just fine. NGX is complex, but atleast it doesn't like to catch fire so easily.

 

She really is, and I have managed to fly the tutorial flights of the NGX but haven't gone much farther than that...

 

It's a good thing those turbofans don't have to be feathered, because otherwise there would be a lot of angry passengers... just like there were when I was learning the JS4100.

[SKEWR 364]

If you already are flying the NGX, then I think you can fly any payware you choose. IMO, the 777 is LESS complex for the pilot than the NGX. (The 777 has tons more going on behind the scenes, but you (the pilot) would probably not notice all of it in regular airline ops).

 

Airline Pilot life: I'd suggest you take your already purchased NGX and fly it from KMSP to KORD. Use any airline you like (or if you are a stickler for realism, I'd say check flight schedules (flightaware.com can search airports, aircraft and airline) out of KMSP to see who uses 737s out of there and try that out.) The next thing to determine is how real do you want to get. Cold and Dark at a gate or on the active with engines running? W&B is usually handled by the FMC so a random load works for any flight. I'd suggest PFPX only if you like airline ops.

 

Time commitment: I don't think you need a longer time commit. What's the time from KLAX to KSFO with a Cost Index of 65? Under two hours. I am in a similar situation as you are and I can squeeze in up to two hours. SFO to LAS? EWR to IAD? KIAH KAUS? KIAH KMSY? There are real flights with short flight times with the NG and larger. Please don't let the time commitment defeat you as you can most certainly fly commercial and live the virtual airline life.

 

Realism: A few posters mentioned "don't buy the 777". IMO, the time compression feature is made for folks like us who can't sit at the computer for that flight from KJFK to WSSS or KLAX YSSY. You can do KEWR to KSFO in an hour at 8x time compression. The rest of the time you can use for pre flight or post flight or neither! (If you like the immersion I'd also suggest GSX to replicate the ground environment and sounds.) I respect the simmers who do the Ultra Long Hauls in real time, but for me, I like maximizing my time and flying to places I either paid for or have never flown to  before. The 777 allows you to do those flights, and with time compression, allows you to do those flights at a substantially reduced time commitment.

 

Good luck and have fun regardless!

[coa1117 53]

 

 

I suppose I need to have a longer time set out to fly

 

Not necessarily. For the 737/738, check out Southwest's city pairs. Most are under or right around 2 hours. Also, many flights within the EU are about the same duration.

[ryanbatc 12,770]

Great thanks!

 

I did download GSX because I learned it works for free with FB or FSDT airports (of which I have many).  First try I parked my NG too far forward and the marshaller dude was waiving his hands frantically...  that probably means stop LOL - but part of me thought it meant keep coming forward hahaha.  

 

I might just keep it simple for now and avoid PPFPX or whatever it was or Topcat.  I don't really like to start C+D but I will power up the FMS and do all that calc stuff and maybe do the gate interaction stuff with GSX (pretty cool btw).

 

One question though: How do you guys know where to park?  Is there a map that says a typical parking spot for XYZ airline?

[Jimmy RFR 406]

 

 

A door.

 

I was thinking 'stairs' to myself the second I saw this topic on the main page!  :lol:  

 

That said, there's a ton of good info shared here; I'm going to add my thanks along with Ryan's, since I too am looking (again) at dipping my toes in a bit further with airline stuff. The recent release of the Airline2Sim Q400 tutorials have had me rolling the Q400 out of the hanger lately; I hadn't flown it for some time.  I also have the MV 732 as well - it makes for a good pairing with the Q400 since they both have the same(ish) FMS installed.

 

I occasionally look at perhaps purchasing the NGX, but I always keep finding other stuff to spend my money (and time!) on.

[KingGhidorah 209]

 

 

One question though: How do you guys know where to park?  Is there a map that says a typical parking spot for XYZ airline?

 

Ryan, in the aircraft.cfg there is typically an entry for atc_parking_type which can be like GATE, RAMP or CARGO, and there is also frequently an entry for atc_parking_code, which is the ICAO airline designator, such as ual .  I'm sure you've seen them before when adding repaints.  So if you use default ATC, the airplane has the appropriate entries,  and the airport has the right designators associated with it, then you would be directed to taxi to a realistic parking spot.

 

In practice, this stuff is not always in there, so you might have to add them.  If not, and you don't feel like messing around with it all, obviously your best option is simply to refer to real world sources about where to park, and then just park there!  A good resource for tube guys is flightaware.com, because it will tell you all sorts of good things you can use to simulate your own flights, including gates.

[ryanbatc 12,770]

Ok good I basically just googled where the airlines are at airports.  Currently doing AAL from LAX to LAS on Pilot Edge.

 

Which brings me to another question.  What are the procedures for gate operations?  I'm at the departure airport, is my APU running while pushing back?  And do I start engines at that point or after PB?  What lighting do I need on at what stages?  These are all complex to me because in a GA like the Legacy or Duke I just turn on the beacon if the engine is on, and turn on strobes and LL when on active runway and that's about it.

[PIC007 82]

Which brings me to another question. What are the procedures for gate operations? I'm at the departure airport, is my APU running while pushing back? And do I start engines at that point or after PB? What lighting do I need on at what stages? These are all complex to me because in a GA like the Legacy or Duke I just turn on the beacon if the engine is on, and turn on strobes and LL when on active runway and that's about it.

Sounds like you are really getting into this!!! :-)

 

General info....

While at the gate you would normally be on external power and start your APU prior to pushback. Once you get clearance to "push and start' you would wait until the marshaler (sp) tell you that you are clear to start via ground comms.

 

RE lighting: NAV lights ON at gate when aircraft is 'alive'.... beacons ON prior to starting engines....taxi lights on prior to taxi...takeoff and strobes ON just prior to entering the active runway...and reverse all that for landing and taxiing to the gate :-)

[SKEWR 364]

Ok good I basically just googled where the airlines are at airports.  Currently doing AAL from LAX to LAS on Pilot Edge.

 

Which brings me to another question.  What are the procedures for gate operations?  I'm at the departure airport, is my APU running while pushing back?  And do I start engines at that point or after PB?  What lighting do I need on at what stages?  These are all complex to me because in a GA like the Legacy or Duke I just turn on the beacon if the engine is on, and turn on strobes and LL when on active runway and that's about it.

I think every airline has a different set of rules. Generally speaking:

 

1) APU on about 10 minutes before departure. (If hot weather with no AC cart, use as needed) (Some airports have noise abatement for APU usage at night)

2) For the 737, right before pushback turn the packs off and keep the APU on as a source of air to start the engines. After both engines are started and running for one minute, turn the packs back on and you may turn off the APU.

3) You generally start when you have clearance around the aircraft. If the ground crew says OK to start, unless you are being held or delayed, you may start engines. (Usually engine 2 then 1)

4) When the plane has any power, the NAV light stays on. When the plane is pressurized (ie right before pushback) the beacon light should be on. Taxi lights are as needed when you start taxi.

5) Strobes on anytime you cross/enter a runway.

 

A good thing you could look at is a general checklist for the 737 and just bear in mind airlines have differing policies on what and when different things are accomplished (including lights)

Hope this helps

[ViperPilot 81]

This is a great Thread; lots of useful Info, regardless of the Sim!

 

The questions I've always had about Airliner ops are these:

 

1) Once you depart and are on your Outbound heading, how long should it take to get to Cruise Altitude? Of course, that's dependent on the specific bird and the SID... but are there general rules of thumb?

 

2) Same thing goes for initial Descent from Cruise... I've always thought 1K - 1,500 fpm is a good basic rule, but am I wrong?

 

Thanks for all the insights!

[SKEWR 364]

I'm not airline pilot, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong:

Generally speaking from my own observation:

 

1) I think it depends on the traffic around you and any special events as to when you are cleared to cruise altitude. Generally you get "expect FLXXX  10 minutes after departure" or some thing similar.

2) I recently learned that a good way to start your decent was to use Vertical Speed at ~ -300FPS then decrease V/S or use VNAV (or FLCH). Basically you ease into the decent for passenger comfort. Maybe for cargo you can just nose over and go for it! LOL. Also you're using V/S to get you to the next altitude constraint while using the least amount of fuel. So place the descent bar (green banana) at your next altitude constraint and you should be fine.

[Bjoern 1,151]

The questions I've always had about Airliner ops are these:

 

1) Once you depart and are on your Outbound heading, how long should it take to get to Cruise Altitude? Of course, that's dependent on the specific bird and the SID... but are there general rules of thumb?

 

2) Same thing goes for initial Descent from Cruise... I've always thought 1K - 1,500 fpm is a good basic rule, but am I wrong?

 

Thanks for all the insights!

 

1) Climbs strongly depend on weight, weather and traffic conditions. A rule of thumb is accelerating to your plane's optimum climb speed, adjust the throttle to stay at a specific EPR or N1 value and then adjust your vertical speed accordingly.

 

2) Depending on ATC. If RC4 commands a descent at pilot's discretion, I rarely exceed 1500 fpm to bleed off some speed. If it puts a crossing restriction in place, however, I'll be popping speed brakes and 2000+ fpm sink rates like a mofo!

[ryanbatc 12,770]

Holy cow.... this is amazing....  little guys actually load stuff and the trucks move around - wow - really cool.  But I spose you airliner nuts have been doing this for years

 

Thanks for the hints on gate ops and engine startup/lighting